SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Laguna Beach Girls Win, but Coach Isn’t Celebrating

The Laguna Beach girls’ volleyball team needed only three games and a little more than an hour to defeat Bakersfield in a Southern California Regional first-round playoff match Tuesday night.

But Artist Coach Michael Soylular was hardly pleased with the victory.

In fact, he was downright angry.

Angry with the top-seeded Artists’ laid-back attitude in a 15-4, 15-8, 15-5 victory at Laguna Beach. Angry with their poor passing. Angry with their hitting errors.

“This was a terrible game for us,” said Soylular, the Artists’ first-year coach. “It was like the Corona del Mar match coming back to us all over again.”

Laguna Beach has won nine consecutive matches--including the Southern Section 5-A final last Saturday night--since being swept by Corona del Mar on Oct. 28.

But the Artists (23-2) struggled Tuesday night, finishing with 10 hitting errors and five service errors. And Soylular wasn’t shy about telling his players what he thought about their play.

“He told us that this was embarrassing,” outside hitter Tori Scott said. “And that we shouldn’t be playing down to Bakersfield’s level.”

Soylular said he expects a better match from his team in the second round Saturday night. The Artists will meet Lakewood St. Joseph, a 15-8, 15-7, 15-6 winner over Pacific Palisades in the first round.

Little went right Tuesday night. Even outside hitter Rachel Wacholder, the Artists’ star player, was out of sync. She had 13 kills to lead the Artists, but committed three hitting errors in the first game.

“Rachel had her weakest match hitting,” Soylular said.

Soylular also was upset with the players’ attitude. Wacholder and Scott collided while going for a kill in the second game, and both lay on the floor giggling before continuing play.

“I want us to play well,” Soylular said. “I want to bring some harmony back to this team.”

Scott, who finished with 10 kills, said the Artists suffered a letdown after sweeping El Toro in the 5-A finals.

“Everyone is pretty much glad that Southern Section tournament is over,” said Scott, a 5-8 senior. “We’re not really looking at State the same way as the Southern Section tournament.”

Bakersfield (13-5) provided little competition, committing 16 hitting errors and struggling with its passing game. Laguna Beach had five aces, and Bakersfield players combined for only 15 kills the entire match.

“Playing down to another level definitely hurt us during the (Pacific Coast) League season,” Scott said.

In another Division I match:

El Toro 3, Poway 1--Senior outside hitter Jaime Smith had 15 kills and senior outside hitter Wendy Balut added 13 kills for the unseeded Chargers in a 9-15, 15-10, 15-4, 15-2 victory at Poway. Junior Amber Woodcock came off the bench with six kills and eight blocks.

Unseeded El Toro (19-4) will play second-seeded Arroyo Grande (21-0) in the second round Saturday night.

In Division II:

La Habra 3, Bakersfield Highland 0--Outside hitter Zrinka Kristich had 23 kills and four blocks for La Habra (22-2), which won, 15-13, 15-2, 15-12. Stefanie Bakke had 35 assists and four service aces.

La Habra led, 12-8, in the last game before Highland rallied to tie it, 12-12. But La Habra closed out the match with three consecutive points, the final one on a kill by Kristich.

La Habra advanced to Saturday night’s second round against Del Mar Torrey Pines.

Del Mar Torrey Pines 3, Sunny Hills 1--The Lancers’ Rachel Hochesang had 14 kills and five blocks in a 15-8, 14-16, 5-8, 15-10 loss at Torrey Pines.

In Division III:

El Modena 3, La Jolla 0--Lynnette Anderson had 18 kills, Marni Hichborn had 14 and Melizza Benitez had 41 assists for host El Modena (22-2), which won 15-9, 15-13, 18-16. The Vanguards will meet San Diego University in a second-round match Saturday night.